Okay, okay. She can do this. She ain't gonna pussy out. She can do this. If only her fucking feet can moved! Move, damn it!

Another day for the life of one Katsumi Bakugou. Still on her mission to mend the shattered bond between her and Deku. While said bonded is not one on a friends' level she can very boldly say they're acquaintances, at best and worst. But, all the conversations they had were limited in that shit-stain school. Whenever the school day was over Deku would either go to his job, a place she currently nearby and try to enter if only she can fucking move, or somewhere else.

Now, she would totally spend her time with him if either of them ask each other outside of school but Katsumi felt they're not on that level yet. She knows Deku. He can be a nervous wreck if he's with someone he barely knows for a long time. However, given a good amount of time and getting to know each other, then he'll come out of his shell and be a slightly less scared rabbit around the person who wants to be friends with him.

And that's why she's going to pay him a visit. Chalk it up as impatiens or pigheaded she didn't give a fuck. Katsumi will break another barrier and one step closer repairing the bridge despite it being burned, struck by lightning, pissed by a bunch of mutts and struck by lightning again for good measure. So after finishing her turn of cleaning the classroom, fucking weak, she went to the business district of the city.

But that derailed quite a bit since she doesn't know what Deku's job looks like but only vague descriptions from endless conversations between her old hag and Aunty Inko along it being called 'Around The World' or something like that. Her time was wasted for a short amount. Walking around aimlessly looking at each tall ass building with those huge neon signs not matching the name of the place her former best friend works at. Not helping that she stopped once and awhile looking at anything that piqued her interest.

At some point her impatience was this close to catching up with her and making her call it quits when far away she saw a tiny building sandwich between taller ones. She didn't give a single thought as she walked close to it when the wooden sign perfectly matched the name of her search. Fucking glad that was over with, she was about go in when her feet suddenly planted right in the ground.

Thus, we are led back to the beginning of her current predicament. Never once has she been held back by her own accord. Whatever is in front of her she pulverized right through with no self-doubt. Every action she does she does it with her confidence hand-in-hand, right or wrong whatever that action may be. However, her confidence took a backseat and whatever is in front is parking her a few meters away from the store.

She growled, startling everyone around her and quickly walked away. Faltering was never a part of her mindset and whatever is stopping her will not be a permanent roadblock on her path towards her goal. An extreme method for wussies she bit her lip, hard. Blood contacted her tongue as that sharp pain was enough to get her feet walking again. Licking away the blood she, again, stopped by a display window and leaned forward for a peek.

The place doesn't look that impressive. Like a very small thrift store painted in black. There weren't any people in there except the one she was hoping to be there. Behind a counter in casual, a smidge flamboyant, was Deku who was currently writing something in a journal. A pang of guilt hit her. Remembering one of his journals reduced to ash because of her. Making a mental note to buy a notebook, hero-theme, as an apology gift as Katsumi amped herself up and went in.

The Flames of Passion Within

It was a slow day, like all days, here at Round The World as Izuku mindlessly doodled away in a new journal he bought that was intended to be a new edition to his hero journal catalog. Drawing little random heroes fighting villains in a comical fashion. He liked how he drew a little All Might throwing the moon at a group of villains. Alas, it wasn't enough to take his mind off as he still remembers what the Batuu gang told him a few days after the brawl on the alley.

"I did what?"

"You heard me Midoriya. You just declared war on the schools."

The four boys were in Windknight's Lot Pizzeria on a weekend and a free day for Izuku, both job and regimen. He, Shohi, Taiho were in casual clothing while Kemuri was in his employee uniform. They were discussing on his lunch break, it was Taiho who decided to take the conversation over. "What Shohi is saying is that since you interfere, which we're still thankful for, the other schools Ambria High are in an alliance with will see that as an act of insult and a declaration of war. I know it sounds silly but that's the code we delinquents follow."

"Yeah, and they're gonna come for your ass," said Shohi, the conversation back to him. "Once they find where your school is they'll retaliate and try to conquer your turf. And if they're like that asshole Judan I say we team up and take those assholes down!" He finished it off with a thumb swipe across his throat.

In his usual behavior Izuku tried to sway Shohi's proposal. "Can we negotiate them to a peaceful resolve without the fighting?"

"Midoriya, dude." Kemuri shook his head. "You're a chill guy but those other school gangs are out for your blood. They ain't gonna let this die down for, in all of us delinquents eyes, the disrespect you delivered to them. Shohi's right. We don't know how many members all gangs have in total but our changes, low they already are, will go up a bit higher if we team."

"Come on, Midoriya. We can beat them if we join together. 'I'll scratch you'll back, you scratch mine' type of a deal." Shohi concluded.

Crossing his arms Izuku took a moment to think it over as his expression turned to a troubled one. Quite a pickle he's in. Immediately he thought of telling All Might this sticky issue. But he put that on the back burner, he didn't want the greatest hero to be concerned with a minor problem that couldn't scale to the grand misdeeds the larger than life figure deals with. And he couldn't go to the authorities, for he doesn't know who is in cahoots with the Ambria High gang and there is a good chance they wouldn't believe him. He doesn't know why that will occur but he got a gut feeling it will.

Other factors also played in his head if he agreed and handled this by himself, and the Batuu gang. The tight schedule in his daily life was somewhat stressful but not abundant that would cause complications. However if he agreed to this those complications would no doubt arise. But if he can handle it with absolute care and discreetly at a certain pace then this matter wouldn't be much of a problem, added with the extra help. With that in mind Izuku Midoriya of Aldera High finally voiced his decision.

"Alright, I accepted."

Following the agreement they exchange phone numbers, citing that if they saw someone wearing a different school uniform than theirs a quick text or call from one of them and the rest would come and face the opposition with extra care. As far as today no one that has connections to Judan's group, openly or hidden in sight, shows themselves. But that can change any time now. And that's just making Izuku's stomach jumpy. Paranoid out of his mind, he kept looking over his shoulder and expected to be jumped at. Happen plenty of times before in his school yet never by outside forces. That fight in the alley certainly did not improve his confidence. Sure Judan's quirk, even if it intrigues him, scares the jibbies out of him but, in the phrase of Lovecraft, the fear of the unknown that are the others' quirks are making Izuku's creative and spectating mind going haywire it feels like his brain is gonna gush out of his ears.

School fights he never was, and the ones only he had was with Kacchan. Which ended with explosion marks more than a live fire exercise authorized by tanks. That's one of the things Kacchan has stopped he won't miss. No siree, he ain't missing that one bit. Glad to be replaced by a more friendly demeanor. Come to think of it, he won't mind, just spit-balling, if she suddenly came here just to make friendly chat.

Ding

Looking up from his doodle of another drawing of All Might standing triumph on a mountain of villains he almost dropped his pencil upon seeing the curious yet rather, impossibly, shy look of the aforementioned girl that was a big part of his childhood. "Kacchan?!"

Taking away her eyes from a fairly rare hero figure Katsumi greeted. "Deku." She marched right over to him with her usual brashness. "How are you doing, you nerd?" Her tone carried the usual assertive as well but it sounded a bit more wooden. "So this is where you work, yeah? No wonder it took me forever to find it. So small compared to the other buildings." Once she made it to the opposite side of the counter to him, Katsumi rested her arms on the counter top and looked Izuku straight in the eye with an ungainly look.

"Uhhh, Kacchan, you alright? You're…" he pointed his finger at her and moved it around , "Kinda sweaty."

"Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes, "walking around for a long time can do shit to a person. You know what I mean?"

"All too well." He said, remembering dragging so many heavy things on his back to be carried to All Might's trunk for a long period of time. It is a wonder he can walk soon after, more so standing at all.

"Anyway, so you work here." She took a look around. Those long wooden tables you see at shitty parties with those crates that people haul around behind a building. Black painted wall with some areas chipped off. Shirts, posters, books and a bunch of random crap.

"Yeah. Cashier and stocking, basically." He answered.

Katsumi runs her fingers through packs of hero cards on the counter. "And it's only you working in this joint?" She then spotted something, an old booster pack of hero cards she never got her hands on.

"Well, no. Today Ji-my fellow employee is on a day off." Izuku quickly caught himself. Not wanting to say Jirou's name in front of her or else this cheering talk will come to an abrupt end, replaced by the same old inferno from his dear former best friend.

"And ya boss," asked Katsumi, causing Izuku to let out a mental sigh of relief.

"He's in his office." He answered, pointing to a door next to them. Muffle guitar notes can be heard from inside. "Mr. Otoishi gives us a majority of responsibilities here while he handles finances and similar stuff to it."

She placed the booster pack in front of him which he took as wanting to purchase it. More notably when she took out her own All Might themed wallet. "Sure sounds like a lazy sod."

"Not necessarily." He defended, taking the money from her and giving her a receipt. "He was worn out from working by himself before the two of us applied. Thankful for taking some of the workload off of him he gave us employee discounts."

"That's generous of ya boss." She said, now eyeing the drawing filled pages of her former best friend's journal as she pocketed her booster pack, hoping for any rare cards once she ripe the little package open. "But that workload must have been weightless since, and no offense Deku, this place ain't packed with extras."

He shrugged, getting relaxed enough he started drawing again with Kacchan watching by. "Yeah, not helping it on the outskirts of the shopping district and its size. But I'm happy working here. Although, I'll miss it when I apply to UA and, hopefully, pass the entrance exam."

"Yeah, I can see that." Katsumi made no comment on the UA thing. "Ain't a bad place. And I bet the money is good. Unlike me, I still get allowances from my old folks since we're very well off."

"Oh yeah, your parents work in the fashion industry." Izuku said, always forgetting that minor detail of her family.

"Yup, plus the old hag does a little journaling on the side. It's mainly about volleyball, I don't know. I'm not a fan of sports that don't involve people bash their heads against each other."

She leaned forward, both their foreheads almost touching but they never noticed the close proximity. "So what about Auntie Inko. Is she still a nurse?"

"Uh-huh. Though, she's mostly at home due to the hospital having less patients with All Might being here… for… some reason." He fidgets as he glances away nervously.

"So weird he's here. I mean, it is not a bad thing. It's cool he's beating the shit out of the villains and the chance to get the autograph from him. I would have got that first chance after that…"

Her voice stopped which made Izuku's gaze move to see a seldom look on her. Distant and soft as opposed to the sharp and focused perpetual facial expression.

"Kacchan."

Jolted up from hearing that nickname of hers she straight up and composed herself. "Don't worry about that, Deku. Like I said before I could have handled it. Something like that ain't enough to scare me I'll even piss myself." She leaned for again, her blood red eyes meeting his light emerald. "I promise myself that no matter what, shit like that will never get me. Instead, I'll put the fear in them when I become, and show them that I'm the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be."

"I'd like to see that." Izuku said, smiling and getting quite the goosebumps from the passion in her words. "I can't wait to see you on top."

"Yeah, well, you better." She said with some boasting. "Cause I'm intending to stay up there for a long time so if you want to claim it then you better bring your A-game, Deku."

"I'll do my best, Kacchan. Although I kinda want to share the top with you instead of fighting for it."

She came to a screeching halt at hearing his words. Her prideful act instantly crumpled as an unrefined flare of heat fan out over her face. Blundering words trapped in her throat as more red smeared her face to a point it looked like all her blood went straight up there. Didn't help that Deku's radiant, beaming smile was making fucking butterflies dance in her stomach.

Then it went overkill for her when she noticed how close their faces were. The nonsensical words finally burst out of her mouth. The pronunciation of each letter string up together in such a jumbled mess a secret society might use it as their secret language.

Izuku got concerned by the very bizarre sounds coming from Kacchan and, like her, was full blown red due to the closeness between them. However, after the squeamish and his own mumbles of erratic words, he then falls silent, drinking in his former best friend's facial features. Wow, he never takes note how pretty she is this up close. He honestly couldn't look away, and he's okay with that. He could look at her for hours.

And then that was when Katsumi stopped the gibberish and stood in silence. Neither one of them attempted breaking contact as they kept staring into each other's eyes. Their breaths were slightly heavier with each exhale as they were slowly getting in closer and closer by some unknown magmatic force. Closer and closer the lids of their eyes were coming down like curtains as they felt each other's hot breath. Closer and closer their lips were about to touch and nothing coming in between to stop them-

Bam!

Springing straight up, postures lined perfectly as the door office openly hit the wall loudly in the small store. Standing in the doorway was Izuku's boss, Mr.Otoishi, who stood there with such tired eyes and heavy bags it seems he didn't get a wink of sleep since who knows how long.

Brushing back his long wavy purple hair as he rubbed his left eye that has a thunderbolt tattoo going down to the jaw. Blinking, he then registered the two teenagers in the building who were standing there rather awkwardly, like they did something highly criminal that didn't go smoothly. Their heads blushed to an uncomfortable degree as they looked everywhere but not at each other. A smirk curves his lips as he stretches.

"Midoriya, didn't know you had a groupie already, and you're not a rock star hero yet. Now, I don't allow some rock n' roll action going on here but for ya, my number one customer, go crazy. Crazy like it was the Sunset Stripe here. Straight to the jungle, Midoriya. Straight to the jun-"

Boom!

An explosion ruptures from her hand, shutting Otoishi up and slightly frightening Izuku out of habit. Katsumi gave the owner a glare that certainly scared him cold like a person giving terrible medical news. Certainly, he oversteps a boundary he shouldn't have stepped to as the blonde girl swivels and seething left without a single goodbye to her dear former friend.

"Damn, guess I shouldn't have said that, huh." Otoishi said as he looked at his worker. "Did she at least buy something?"

Nodding wordless Izuku then looked glum. Wait, why would he be glum? He was about to kiss Kacchan! Touching his lip as the mad blush returned to his face full force. Holy stinking crap! What came over him? He almost kissed Kacchan! As far he knows the relationship between them is still on ice. Not on a friend level or best friends level. More like two people who just make small chats around the water cooler. To jump straight to that. Well, that's absurd, his mind is having a rollercoaster around it. And besides, even if he and Kacchan were to patch things up and go straight to that affectionate relationship he'll probably be a poor boyfriend for her. Or for anyone for that matter.

"Hey, Midoriya." He heard Mr. Otoishi snapping his fingers. "It's closing time. Ya can go home. I'll lock up, probably gonna sleep in my office tonight. Got some tasty licks I need to record."

Saying an 'alright' Izuku gathered his stuff and bid Mr. Otoishi a good night. Walking outside he blends in with the crowd who are leaving the shopping district in droves for the night. All of them return home or some other place to continue their fun.

Izuku, however, needs to be prepared for tomorrow. For he is going to have a sparring match with All Might. Now putting that circumstance with Kacchan aside he needs to mentally focus on what to do. Oh jeez, the mere thought of sparring with him alone just puts an immense load on Izuku's shoulders. Does he go on the defensive the whole way? Full on offensive? Both? Orthodox or unorthodox? He can wing, just following his gut and hoping for the best.

Kacchan's lips were looking kinda soft. He wonders how it feels-no, no, no. Focus Izuku. Get your mind back on track. You have an important day tomorrow. You can't let that unquenched desire of actually wanting to kiss Kacchan distracted you. No matter how much you want it.

He stopped, close to his home a few meters away. But this heavy burning feeling in him is making his head spinning. He placed a hand over his mouth as the burning feeling went back to his head.

Oh, he's in trouble. He is in so much trouble. This burning feeling. It only happened once when he thought of Jirou. Now it's happening with the thoughts of Kacchan in his head.

Watching those soap operas with his mom whenever she needs a new box of tissues gives him a little awareness of what plays next. From the typical cliches to the out of nowhere plot twists. Now he's starting to realize it might be happening to him out here in the real world.

Is… is he starting to develop affection feelings for Kacchan? Does he have them for Jirou?! Ohhhhh, holy stinking crap, he really hopes this won't cause any problems down the road. He really hopes.

AN: And that's that. New chapter upload. Short compared to the other ones. To tell you the truth this felt like a filler chapter I just came up on the fly. So, idk, just gonna keep the story going somehow. Also, somewhere along the way I made a new story. An experimental one. A NGE/Doom fic. Sounds weird but the thought of it would not leave my mind so I wrote it and post the first chapter. Check it out if you want but this guy is gonna some rr. See you later and have a pleasant day.